psycho_ash
Member
Hello, all! My name is Ash - I have two little ratgirls, Lemmi and Felony.
I've had Lemmi for a year - I believe that she is two and a half to three years old. She's a rescue rattie, so I don't really know how old she is. She has lived alone since she ever came home from the pet store, and truly considers herself to be "human".
This is Lemmi.
In any case, college leaves me with less time to spend with Lemmi. She doesn't like being alone, so I got her a friend - Felony. I quarantined Felony for a week, in a different cage, before putting their cages beside each other. They seemed to get along quite well, both while sniffing each other between cages and during play time. At the worst, Lemmi seemed to find Fel simply an annoyance. There was no puffing up, no hissing, no squeaking while they were together. Fel did try to play with Lemmi, but Lemmi wasn't too interested.
Fel is a bat out of hell.
After them living beside each other for three weeks, today I decided to try the last step - moving them in together. I completely cleaned the cage they were going to live in (Lemmi's), removing it of all scent. I put new bedding in it, I put in a new house, a new food crock, new toys - everything. I then smeared some yogurt on both of them and put them in. They licked each other for a bit, and then started exploring. They had a few scuffles, but nothing major.
Then Lemmi decided to go for the food, and Fel tried to join her. Lemmi didn't attack Fel or anything, but she started squeaking A LOT. I've never heard Lemmi squeak outside of me trimming her nails and going a little too far before. Everytime Fel tried to approach Lemmi (who was eating), Lemmi would about-face and squeak. I didn't want Lemmi to rip Fel's face off, so I separated them.
Here is my question - what do you think I should do? Do you think they could live together, or has Lemmi been an "only rat" for too long?
Thank you very, very much,
Ash
I've had Lemmi for a year - I believe that she is two and a half to three years old. She's a rescue rattie, so I don't really know how old she is. She has lived alone since she ever came home from the pet store, and truly considers herself to be "human".
This is Lemmi.
In any case, college leaves me with less time to spend with Lemmi. She doesn't like being alone, so I got her a friend - Felony. I quarantined Felony for a week, in a different cage, before putting their cages beside each other. They seemed to get along quite well, both while sniffing each other between cages and during play time. At the worst, Lemmi seemed to find Fel simply an annoyance. There was no puffing up, no hissing, no squeaking while they were together. Fel did try to play with Lemmi, but Lemmi wasn't too interested.
Fel is a bat out of hell.
After them living beside each other for three weeks, today I decided to try the last step - moving them in together. I completely cleaned the cage they were going to live in (Lemmi's), removing it of all scent. I put new bedding in it, I put in a new house, a new food crock, new toys - everything. I then smeared some yogurt on both of them and put them in. They licked each other for a bit, and then started exploring. They had a few scuffles, but nothing major.
Then Lemmi decided to go for the food, and Fel tried to join her. Lemmi didn't attack Fel or anything, but she started squeaking A LOT. I've never heard Lemmi squeak outside of me trimming her nails and going a little too far before. Everytime Fel tried to approach Lemmi (who was eating), Lemmi would about-face and squeak. I didn't want Lemmi to rip Fel's face off, so I separated them.
Here is my question - what do you think I should do? Do you think they could live together, or has Lemmi been an "only rat" for too long?
Thank you very, very much,
Ash